We, the undersigned, oppose plans by SoFloAg/Biodia/PreLabs to build a commercial monkey breeding facility in Labelle, Florida and urge you to do all you can to oppose this proposed establishment which seeks to import thousands of non-native long-tailed macaque monkeys from outside the US into the state.

In making your decision, we ask you to consider:

That many members of the public and scientific community are concerned about the use of these intelligent, social animals in laboratory research and the effect of the trade on the conservation of the species in the wild

That animal experimentation has a limited carryover to successful human trials

That advanced technologies are increasingly replacing animal experimentation; these cost-effective techniques produce faster results and are more applicable to humans

The potential risk and impacts of the escape and establishment of a third non-native monkey species in Florida, including:

Public safety and human health issues:

Hundreds of monkeys escaped after Hurricane Andrew which set off a panic in the streets of Miami

The potential zoonotic diseases arising from monkey-human contact and potential disease risk from runoff and animal waste at the facility

Potential threats to Florida’s native ecosystems:

Procedures to deal with contaminants in animal bedding and other waste are typically required in the industry, but neighbouring lands and aquifers may not be protected

Rhesus macaques previously introduced to the state have damaged mangroves and impacted native bird populations

As it stands, no one at the local, state or federal level will evaluate the potential impacts of the introduction of this non-native species beforehand, despite state findings that after-the-fact remedies are ineffective

And finally that, based on the promised job figures and bearing in mind the industry’s standard roles and salaries, two-thirds of the workforce may actually earn incomes below federal poverty standards and below Hendry County’s median household income.